Upper Darby serial burglar, pal draw prison for three-county crime spree
NORRISTOWN » Saying they changed the lives of their victims “forever,” a judge sent two men - including one from Delaware County - to prison for up to three decades for their roles in a threecounty, residential burglary spree that reportedly netted the home invaders more than $1 million in stolen goods.
Leroy Boose, 59, who once listed an address on Long Lane in Upper Darby, Delaware County, and Anthony McDaniels, 50, of the
1600 block of West Lehigh Street, Philadelphia, each was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to
15-to-30-years in prison after they pleaded guilty to multiple counts of burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary in connection with residential breakins that occurred between April
2017 and February 2018 in Montgomery, Delaware and Philadelphia counties.
“You violated the victims’ sense of security when you broke into their homes. You destroyed that sense of security,” Judge Wendy G. Rothstein addressed the men. “You changed their lives forever. You stole items that were irreplaceable.”
Of the 50 burglaries linked to the men, 38 took place in Montgomery County, primarily in Lower Merion, Abington and Cheltenham, and six occurred in the Haverford Township and Drexel Hill sections of Delaware County. The remainder occurred in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia.
Several victims confronted the burglars in the courtroom, revealing the trauma they experienced as a result of the break-ins.
“I’m always nervous when I’m returning home. I’m unable to sleep at night,” one Cheltenham woman testified, adding the men stole a camera containing family photographs and jewelry passed down from relatives. “These items had sentimental value that cannot be replaced.”
“I was devastated and scared stiff,” one man said as he recalled arriving home to find his home ransacked. “I didn’t know if someone was still in the house. I have felt violated and unsafe.”
Another woman testified her ransacked home appeared as if “an earthquake” had struck.
The judge also imposed 10-year consecutive probationary terms against each man, meaning they will be under court supervision for 40 years.
“I’m embarrassed and ashamed of what I’ve done. The victims did not deserve this. I’m a good man who made bad mistakes,” Boose, who also listed addresses in Philadelphia and in Willingboro, N.J., said before learning his fate.
Defense lawyer Andrew J. Levin, who represented Boose, argued Boose struggled with addiction during his lifetime but had been sober until 2015 when his son died as a result of a shooting incident. Boose became addicted to opioids after his son’s death and his life spiraled out of control, Levin said.
“It’s a horrible, horrible example of what addiction can do to an otherwise law-abiding man,” Levin said about Boose’s criminal behavior. “When he’s not addicted to substances he’s an otherwise law-abiding citizen. He takes full responsibility and makes no excuses for what he did.”
Under a limited sentencing agreement, prosecutors agreed to cap Boose’s minimum sentence at between 10 and 15 years. Assistant District Attorney Scott Frame argued for the 15-year minimum.
“He wasn’t addicted to opioids, he was addicted to burglaries,” Frame argued. “We want this defendant to be under court supervision for the rest of his life.”
McDaniels also apologized for his conduct.
“I feel bad about the things I’ve done,” McDaniels told the judge. “To the victims, I’m sorry. That’s from the heart.”
McDaniels had a prior criminal record and was a repeat felon so he potentially faced even more time in prison than Boose under state sentencing guidelines. But defense lawyer Basil Beck III argued McDaniels should be given credit for “significant” cooperation he gave detectives after his arrest.
McDaniels immediately confessed and in February 2018, he did drive around with detectives and point out the homes that were burglarized and he identified the location of a storage facility where stolen items were stored, according to testimony.
“He basically was a partner with law enforcement to help solve all these burglaries. He did it because he wanted to come clean. It’s really unprecedented. The impact is gigantic,” Beck argued, claiming McDaniels’s cooperation saved police manpower and helped get some items returned to the owners.
Rothstein took note of McDaniels’s cooperation in fashioning a sentence that was identical to the one she handed to Boose.
“You would have served the rest of your life in prison
if not for your cooperation,” Rothstein addressed McDaniels. “If not for your cooperation your sentence would be a lot greater.”
The men, prosecutors alleged, stole items such as electronics and jewelry and other more unique items like taxidermy and musical instruments.
At the time of the arrests last year, District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said the arrests were the culmination of the work of a task force that was created after officials began seeing common links among the burglaries.
“The burglaries generally occur between dusk and midnight. Typically, several houses are burglarized during the same time frame and in close proximity to one another. Homes without lights on or a visible car in the driveway were specifically targeted,” Lower Merion Detective David Herbst and Abington Detective Robert Wilsbach alleged in the arrest affidavit.
“In most cases bedrooms were ransacked, with jewelry taken and a pillow case used to carry stolen goods,” the detectives added.
Steele previously said the value of the property taken during the 50 burglaries was pegged at somewhere around $1 million.
Some items were recovered
in self-storage units linked to Boose in Philadelphia, according to court papers. Last year, authorities attempted to return stolen items to rightful owners via a web site that displayed the items. The men were ordered to share in the payment of $442,300 in restitution.
The detectives alleged numerous methods of entry were used to gain access to the homes and in some cases, “brute force was used to shoulder a door.”
Detectives alleged the details of the burglaries were similar to burglaries that had occurred in Cheltenham in 2010. In that case, McDaniels had been arrested and spent time in jail, authorities alleged. Detectives also knew McDaniels was an associate of Boose, so the men were identified as suspects and members of the task force began watching them during the course of several weeks.
On Feb. 10, 2018, detectives placed the defendants under surveillance and when they were observed burglarizing a James Road residence in Lower Merion, members of the task force intercepted the defendants and arrested them.
“McDaniels and Boose were stopped and caught red-handed,” Herbst and Wilsbach wrote in court papers.
Following his arrest, McDaniels told detectives he had been committing residential burglaries since 2010 and that “one of the burglaries resulted in a prison stay,” according to court papers.
“Following his parole, Boose constantly pressured
McDaniels into committing burglaries again,” detectives alleged, referring to McDaniels’s statement.
McDaniels, according to detectives, claimed he never committed any burglaries with anyone but Boose. However, McDaniels said sometimes
he would commit burglaries alone.
“After committing a burglary, Boose would take possession of the stolen items. Boose would later pay McDaniels amounts that varied between $500 and $4800,” detectives alleged.